


Bystander

by orphan_account



Category: Eddsworld
Genre: Crush, Cute, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, M/M, Onesided, OutsiderPOV, Pining, SlightAngst, War, crackish, notreally
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-02-19 05:08:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22639459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Brianna has been a loyal soldier of the red army for years. She was recruited by the red leader himself when she attempted to steal his wallet all those years ago. It's safe to say that she's already quite familiar with her leader's behavior. He's cold, calculated and frankly insane. Never once has she saw him show any human emotion.But she's observed some odd and peculiar things about the red leader's behaviour around his second in command, Thomas. It's unusual and baffling, but it'd be a lie to say that Brianna is not entertained by the esteemed red leader acting like a teen with a crush.
Relationships: Future Tom/Future Tord | Red Leader (Eddsworld), Tom/Tord (Eddsworld), TomTord, tordtom - Relationship
Comments: 5
Kudos: 87





	1. Observation

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story told by the point of view of an old woman. Idk lol it came to me and I thought cool let me write that.

Brianna Berde has experienced many things in her five decades of living. Has felt pain of many kinds, be it emotional, physical or mental. Safe to say, it's very hard to shock her old self anymore.

Recently though, there's been some interesting events happening in and outside the battlefield. The red leader has been acting less like a cold and intimidating commander but more of a very confused and emotionally repressed teenager. And the cause of it?

The red leader's very own second in command, Thomas Thompson. An interesting fellow, that young man. He came off as rude at first but then one day he saw O'l Brianna struggling to carry laundry and he immediately carried all of it to her quarters. What a gentleman, that kid! 

Speaking of Thomas, the young man was currently standing beside the red leader as he barked orders in the training grounds. 

' RUN FASTER! NEVER UNDERESTIMATE YOUR ENEMY'S SPEED AND STRENGTH.' 

The red leader's voice boomed like loud thunder throughout the entire ground. His voice is loud but his composure is calm, with his hands behind his back. He wears a deep red coat, gold accents adorning and outlining the expensive velvet. That paired with his robotic arm, burnt flesh and single eye. Not to mention his horn shaped-hair, paints an intimidating picture. 

The trainees run as fast as their legs could carry them, young men and women attempting to prove themselves worthy for the red army. Red leader watches them for a few seconds before turning around and speaking to a man known as Paul. 

' Make sure that the trainees go through each course properly.' He was tapped on the shoulder by a the previously silent Tom. They stared at each other for a few seconds, the red leader scrunching his eyebrows and...pouting? Before he sighed and said, ' And remember to give them four separate breaks.' 

Paul nodded, ' Understood Red Leader.' With that the horned man made his way out of the training grounds with Tom trailing closely behind. They walked the long hallways that connected the living quarters to the training grounds and disappeared from sight. 

Brianna shook her head, gray strands of hair falling in her face, ' Kids'.

I suppose you want to hear the beginning of the story? Well don't worry kids. Granny Brianna is here to tell you the tale of the Red Leader who had a very obvious crush on his subordinate and how they got together.


	2. Wanted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brianna remembers it like it was yesterday.

Brianna remembers it liked it happened yesterday. That's not to say she remembers it clearly. She's nearly sixty, give her a break.

It was a normal day in the base. New recruits training, soldiers chatting and some higher ranking officers doing whatever it is they do. Brianna is the head nurse of the medical department. She was recruited precisely because of her knowledge in medicine and wounds. She's always present in the battlefield not to fight, goodness no, but to tend to the wounded soldiers.

Brianna is currently sitting in a modern office , a meeting is beginning. The other higher ranking officers all sitting and waiting for the red leader to arrive. Brianna looks around to pass time. She's been here before but the modern architecture still amazes her.

The walls are dark blue in color and a large wooden, rectangular table sits in the middle. Sixteen chairs are present, only fifteen are occupied. The large chair in the middle is reserved for the red leader alone. The most impressive, in Brianna's opinion, part of the room is the glass floor. It's one of those one sided glasses. The people in the meeting room can see the soldiers down there but they can't see up.

Brianna is taken out of her wonder when the door opens and reveals the Red Leader. Following behind him are his most trusted men, Paul and Patryk. The officers in the room stood up and bowed and The Red Leader took his place in his chair. He placed his hands on the table and intertwined his fingers. 

' I assume you are all aware of the sudden emergence of rebels in England.' That statement was met with a chorus of 'Yes sir'. The Red Leader nodded and shifted in his seat, his name plate shifting with him. 

Why a well known leader needs a name plate attached to him is beyond Brianna but oh well. His name plate bares the word' Tord'. The Red Leader's real name. 

' Do any of you have any knowlege of the rebels activities? ' Tord asked. A man with dirt blond hair raised his hand, Tord motioned for him to speak.

' I'm the general in charge of the base in England, sir. The rebels attacked at precisely 2: 24 in the morning just as food supplies were being delivered.There were no injuries but they did manage to steal a few boxes of the rations.' 

Tord furrowed his brows, ' So they had to know the schedule of delivery.' He sighed, ' Are there any individuals who seem suspicious in the rebels that attacked?'

The blond man nodded, ' Yes sir. There were only twenty of them but there were three noteworthy people. One of them was wearing a black coat with a green hoodie underneath. He kept screaming about Cola while attacking the food caravan.'

The Red Leader seemed genuinely surprised by this news. He muttered a curse under his breath and stood up. 

'Prepare your soldiers. We're dealing with some old friends in England.' 

He then pressed a button on his robotic arm and a large hologram screen appeared in the middle of the room. Pictures of three men were flashed in the screen. One had dark brown hair and was wearing a green hoodie. The second one was a ginger with a very impressive chin and sports a purple hoodie underneath a green coat. The last one was odd, he had no eyes and his hair defied gravity and wore a blue hoodie.

' When we go to England, make sure to capture these three alive. They are a potential threat to the army if they wanted to.' 

The officers around the table all replied with firm ' Yes Sir!'.

The Red Leader smirked, sharp teeth visible, ' Very well, meeting dismissed.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning this is actually a fluffy story. Also I know nothing about the military or military positions. I'm pulling this all out my ass. Anyways, Bye!


	3. The right hand men pt 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brianna watched these men grow up but she still sometimes forgets their names.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Becky got lazy and unmotivated 'cause she's a lil' shit. It's me, I'm the bitch named becky.  
> AH thank you for the comments and kudos! sorry for not replying I actually haven't used ao3 until recently

Brianna made her way towards the hangar where the planes were loading cargo and supplies. Preparations are undergoing for the anticipated England ' visit' . 

She'd offer to help but oh! would you look at that? Her back hurts, she'll sit this one out. 

The newer soldiers buzzed around like flies trying to locate which plane they're supposed to be in , some of them carrying plushies of all things while the more experienced ones either yelled at them or just watched in silent amusement. Observing the younger recruits is one of this old lady's favorite past times. Mostly because young adults are basically toddlers except taller. She remembers that one time a group of five to ten newbies decided that playing a blindfolded version of hide and seek AND using a taser to say, " found you!" is a fun way to spend their break . They were lucky it was Patryk who found out and only sentenced them to 200 push ups everyday for a month plus no chicken nuggets for breakfast.

Guess who got the nuggets? This old bitch, of course. But back to the preparations. 

It only took 3 hours for everything to be ready and up the sky the Red army go. The Red leader has a separate plane where only him and his two most trusted men, Paul and Patryk share. But occasionally Granny Brianna becomes part of the group like now for example. The plane they're occupying isn't too big but big enough that the four people in it can potentially forget each other's existence for a few hours. 

At the pilot seat sat the red leader himself, it will come to no one's surprise that he prefers to pilot his own creations. Patryk or was it Paul? Paultryk? The one with pretty hair sits besides him explaining some coordinates and location things that Brianna's old mind can't and won't understand. Brianna herself rests on the ' living room' of the plane. The other one, the one with bushy brows is by the windows looking out the sky using the binoculars upside down.

Now as an old lady, Brianna likes to talk and as much as she likes these three frankly emotionally inept men. She'll probably lose all her remaining brown hairs if she has to sit here in silence. She turns her attention to the man sightseeing the clouds.

' Deary what are you looking at? '

no answer

Clearing her throat, she asks again louder this time, ' Youngin' what are you looking at? '. Said youngin' jolts as if shocked and turns to Brianna. ' Oh, Granny! I'm looking for a bear' . 

What the fuck is this child talking about.

Brianna blinks, " A bear? ". He nods a serious expression on his face and says, " So far I've seen a rabbit, a dog and a platypus". Seriously what- 

" All my life I have never seen a cloud bear before and I think that's a crime". Cloud bear- oh so that's what he meant. Paul continues on looking a bit irritated, " Seriously I've seen AND collided with a cloud berg why is there no cloud polar bear? ". Brianna shouldn't have asked, this seems like a very sensitive topic for him. She lifted a wrinkly hand and tried to pat his head.

' There, there. Keep looking, you'll see one eventually', a pause, " Just don't try to pet it. When I was younger I tried to pet a bear and I nearly got sliced to bits! ". 

Paul's eyes sparkled, " You tried to pet a bear? Was the fur soft? Fluffy? ". Brianna smiled at the childlike excitement in his face." Come sit down, I'll tell you about my bear related adventures". And that's how Brianna ended up reliving the time she accidentally interrupted two bears having sex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah sorry for not updating for like 5 months hahaah  
> also I really like the idea that Brianna is everyone's grandma so I'm probably gonna write another chapter spanning their trek to England that's just her interacting with Tord and his pseudo dads.


End file.
